Pure Dead Brilliant
by Lori-Mae Vernon
Summary: AU Yuffentine. When Vincent Valentine saves a 'helpless' girl from a rapist and bring her home with him, he's in for much more than he expected. Can he handle the spunky assassin, or will the trouble she drags him into be too much?
1. Chapter 1

**Pure Dead Brilliant**

I wrapped my arms closer around me, and shivered, walking down the cold, damp and dark alleyway. Now, you must realize, even if you're not in the slums, walking down alleys in Midgar is very dangerous, especially for super hot, well-built, 5'2" girls like myself. Especially this alley. This was where all those girls had gone missing. But that was the point, wasn't it?

My name is Euphemia Kurogane, but everyone calls me Yuffie, for short. Or if you're talking to my 'co-workers' Kurogane, or Princess. Now you're wondering, why the 'co-workers', huh? Well, that's because I'm an assasin. Of the clan of Black Sun. And in case you didn't know, that's a very well known clan. We only kill those who have killed and to protect the planet's secret. And ourselves. We can't have our coverblown, and damn, if some idiot attacks me, I'll give him a beating, and if he thinks to pull a knife or something, he's dead. And we are very good at what we do, but I'll go into specifics later. Because right now, I was on a mission.

The target was a serial killer that the police had a real hard time finding, considering he'd killed at least three times, all innocent girls, and no one knew a thing about him. Well, no one other than us. Which is why I was sent in. I, the great ninja Yuffie, one of the most capable, and the one most suited, considering my acting skills were great.

"Hey babe. What's a little girl like you doing out so late?" A gruff, mocking tone called out from a shadow to my side.

I Jumped, as if startled, but I knew he had been there the entire time. "W-who's there?" I called out, letting my voice shake and sound meek.

The large guy jumped out of the shadows, putting a dirty hand over my mouth, took a knife and started slicing my clothes to pieces. I struggled with as much strengtrh as permitted, sqealing beneath the guy's dirty hand. Can you say ew?

Then something happened not according to plan. A gun clicked off it's safety, and a deep smooth voice that actually sent shivers up spine-in a good way, mind you- called out, "Release the lady please." My attacker dropped the knife, and shoved me away from him. I let myself fall onto the ground -the _oh-so-wet _ground-, and scurried along the cement, and flipped around, huddling close to the wall.

I looked up with fear in my eyes, letting my body shake, to see a _really_ hot guy holding a gun to the head of my assailant. He flipped out a cell phone and called the police murmuring that there was a knocked out rapist lying in this alley, and gave them the address. Mr. Hot-guy then struck my target across the back of the head, knocking him out, then looked to me and asked in that scrumsious voice, "Are you alright?"

"I-I think so." I let myself tremble as he approached. He offered me a hand, and I eagerly took it, then launched myself into his arms, shaking and calling up some tears. Damn. He got in the way, but since he didn't know better, and didn't see my cover broken, I would go along with him. He was a nice enough guy to stop a girl from getting raped, or so it seemed, so his life was sparred. Thank god he hadn't come a second later, or I'd have to kill him too.

The guy ackwardly wrapped his arms around me. "The police are gonna be here soon, you'll be alright." Shit! That couldn't happen! The police would get suspicous when my name didn't show up in their pitiful records. And if they heard my name. That would just get messy. So I clutched at my 'savior' tighter and looked up at him with panicked eyes.

"NO! Please! They'll take me back! I-I can't go back to _him_!" I let my eyes panic, and disolved into tears, letting my knees give out. This stuff was kinda fun in an odd way.

"Woah!" The guy caught me before I fell to the dirty wet ground. Which made me think, how bad did I look? Clothes-wise? He looked both ways, then sighed. "Alright then. Come on." He disentangled me from where I had been clinging to him. He looked down at my clothes then abruptly looked away, slipped out of his jacket and handed it to me. "Here."

I looked down at myself and let out a squeak. My clothes were ripped to the point that nearly _everything _was visible. And the only few parts that were covered didn't need to be. I snatched the jacket and slipped it on, making a mental note that it was an expensive suit jacket. A buisnessman? Why was he carring a gun? Good enough reason for me to investigate. Or so I told myself.

I took hold of his arm again, and he turned to give me a small smile. "I'm Vincent." He spoke while leading me from the alley, and quickly down a street, and into an apartment building. After taking a peak inside he rushed me in and into the elevator. The clerk turned just as he was getting in.

"Ah, Mr. Valentine, you have some mail."

"I'll get it later." He slipped into the elevator with me. Vincent turned to look at me, and just barely caught himself, before his eyes looked downwards to my scantily clad frame.

"I-I'm Yuffie." I kept my face tilted down, but let my eyes meet his and offered a sheepish smile, then a sniff, and looked down to the floor again. He was tall, 6'1" or so, standing almost foot above me, and was lean, but well built, as far as I'd felt when I'd clung to him earlier, he was a rock! Like my uncle, he didn't look like he'd be too strong, but something about the way he carried himself led me to believe that he was very strong and a very able fighter. I didn't fail to notice how his feet moved with hardly a whisper over the ground, or how fast his reflexes were when he'd caught me earlier. And if you throw in the fancy, and now that I could see in proper lighting, navy blue suit and gun, he was undoubtably a turk.

But damn! He was one hot turkey! His face was finely chiseled, with sharper angles, framed by his hair which was cut short in the back, but had somewhat unruly bangs than fell to nearly to his chin, with the middle part hanging just barely above his eyes, almost to emphasise his unearthly gorgeous crimson orbs, that almost shined. Sigh, please let him rape me or something, before _I _jump _him_.

The elevator dinged and and we go out, Vincent leading me down a nice hallway and into a very nice condo with a really good view of downtown Midgar. The furnishings were sparce, but very stylish, with dark wood flooring. Everything was done in black, white, and grey, and was super expensive, from the black leather couch and the huge flat-screen tv. Next to the living area was a modern kitchen with a breakfast bar, everything stainless steel, and fancy granite countertops. Next to the kitchen was a small hallway, with three doors. Damn, being a turkey must pay well. _Really _well.

Vincent flicked on the lights, shut the door behind me , and I didn't miss how he locked it. "So, Yuffie, care to explain why it'd be so bad if the police caught you?"

I witheld a shiver when Vincent said my name, but answered none-the-less. "Well, you see, my uncle died a short while ago, so I moved in with my boyfriend Reno. He was a real sweetheart at first, but, then he... Changed. Grew more... Agressive, if you know what I mean. So I finally get the courage to run away from him, and was making my way to the bank, to draw out a bit of money that my uncle left to me so I could rent a room at a motel or something when I get jumped. And then you come in. Sooo, yeah."

"And what is so bad about the police?"

"Because they wouldn't believe me, cause he's a 'model citizen'. And not to mention, it might call unessiary attention to me. Cause, I'm kinda officially dead?" I said the last part as a question, but it was true. When I became an assasin, my death was faked, so you couldn't track me. Well, that was one of the reasons.

"What?" Vincent was totally confused. "Why are you dead? How? Please explain." His eyes narrowed in suspision.

"Well, kinda obviously, I'm Wutain." I motioned to my face, and Vincent nodded in a 'go on' motion. "Thing is, I _was_ nobility. Real high-up nobility, but thing is, when Mom died, Dad became an ass, and decided to marry me off to this old geezer that was so obviously abusive, but my father really didn't give a damn. So to protect me, my uncle and I basically ran away, and my dad was so pissed that I ran away from the offer that he had me pronounced dead. You might've heard about it. It was on the news."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What is your name then?"

"Er, Kurogane."

Vincent blinked in surprise. "As in Euphemia Kurogane who died at the young age of sixteen from assasination to stop her from becoming a _Kururugi_?" His eyes widened. "You're... Her?" His face showed unmasked surprise. The Kururrugi's were the family next in line to the throne, and my marrage was supposed to bring the families together, thus elevating the already high-up Kurogane's. When I 'died' a chick from the Ito family married in instead.

His eyes narrowed again studying my face, before he nodded. "I see the resemblance."

I raised an eyebrow. This guy must be good. "Even without the war paint?"

Vincent's lips twitched upwards. "Yes, even without the war paint." He looked around for a second, before striding off down the small hallway, beckoning me to follow. I trailed after him, making sure my feet made sufficient noise.

He opened the first door and led us into a grand bedroom, with a huge king-sized bed with indigo sheets. The walls were a darker gray, and the flooring still a rich wood and because of this the large window seemed exceptionally bright in the dark room. Vincent walked over to a dark cherrywood dresser and pulled out a black button up shirt and a pair of boxers, then offered them to me.

"Sorry, but I am a bit lacking in the female clothing department. You can use the shower. Bathroom's over there." He motioned to a door on the opposite wall. I nodded, took the clothes from him, and hesitated a second before kissing his cheek.

I drew back from his stunned expression, a blush on my cheeks that was not at all fake, and met his eyes despite. "Thanks, Vincent. You really saved me. And not just from a rapist, but that too." I offered him a crooked smile before darting into the bathroom, closing the door and leaning back against it, not believing I had just done that.

Sighing, I shucked the navy jacket onto the floor, and striped off the strips of clothing. Damn, that guy was really thourough with my clothes. He even nicked my skin in several places. I climbed into the shower, appreciating the large bathtub, with two good showerheads, and jacuzzi's. I have to get me a tub like this one. The door to the shower/bath opened outward, was that warped glass stuff, and reached to the ceiling. Good, that means the steam can't escape. The rest of the bathroom was very nice also, the sink had a marble countertop, and even the toilet was fancy. Now I was seriously curious.

How much did a turk even get?

~YVYVYVYVYVYVYVYVYVYVYVYVYV~

I stepped out of the heavenly shower, letting out a billow of steam as I opened the glass door of the shower/bathtub-thing. What the heck do I call it? Shrugging to myself I let myself forget about it as I slipped into Vincent's shirt, which hung to my mid-thigh, leaving a few buttons open at the top and bottom, and then slipped on Vincent's boxer's blushing at the thought of me wearing his clothing, which smelt _amazing_.

Which led to the thought that I'm in the position of Vince's girlfriend, with how I was using his shower and wearing his clothes, which led me to wonder if he had a girlfriend, but then decided that he must not, considering he didn't have a single female thing here, and come on, there must at least be some forgotten or lost article of lingerie or something, which then made me wonder how Vincent was in bed, because with those muscles and considering his occupation, he probably had a _lot_ of stamina, he just looked like the kind of guy who would be a really good fuck, and _oh Leviathan, why the hell are you even thinking about these things, cause you're a virgin Yuffie, and if that changed Artemis'll have my ass on a plater!_

I almost let out a cry of frustration at my thoughts. What the hell? I've been around tons of hot guys and have never had any trouble controlling my libido! But then again, a man like Vincent... Rawr... Wait, holy shit! He was Vincent _Valentine_! _The _Vincent Valentine. The badass turk extrordinaire! Hot...

Shaking my head to clear it of all perverted thoughts, I opened the door and stepped out, making my footsteps loud enough for him not to suspect that I was an assassin. "Um, Vince?" I called out, going through the bedroom, to hear something sizzling. He's cooking?

"In here." I turned the corner to see Vince put an omlet onto a plate the push said plate towards me. He had since loosened his tied dramitcally, but hadn't removed it, unbuttoned the top few buttons on his white dress shirt, untucked his shirt, removed his gun and holister, and rolled up his sleeves to his wrists. I spied his shoes over by the door, so they must've been off as well. "You must be hungry, so I made one of the only things I can make, and... Yeah." Vincent looked away, but I still caught a glimpse of his blush. Which then made me wonder if he was as into me as I was into him. Probably not, which then led me to the conclusion that I was wondering and thinking too much, damn it!

"Thanks again, Vince." He suddenly looked at me his eyes narrowed in confusion. Or so I thought, cause I really hadn't known him long enough to know. Meanwhile I had already snatched up a good chunk of the omlet with my hands ignoring the fork and shoved it into my mouth, nearly moaning at the flavor. "Damn, that stuff is good!" I attacked another peice before freezing at his odd look as I was about to throw another in my mouth. "What?" I defended.

"You aren't like any girl I've ever met."

"Course not! I was raised by Uncle Artemis and Aunt Lira. If you've ever met them, enough said." With that said I resumed eating the

Vincent blinked. "Aunt Lira? Not really your aunt, just a nanny, but really not the best influence on a child?"

It was my turn to frown. "Yeah. You know her?"

Vince nodded. "She's a friend of the family's."

I smiled. "Not surprised. While she is a bit rough, she's a real good person. What family are you from?" But it was kinda odd that he did know her. She was a recruiter for the Black Suns. Was he...?

Vincent frown lightly once again. "Takahashi. How are you so comfortable around me? We've just met. And you must know what I do."

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, you were kind enough to rescue me from a rapist and helped me away from the police, and lent me your clothing, sooo, I figure I can trust ya. If you were gonna kill me or something, then you would've just done so already. And besides, I have a good weapon. This trusty fork!" I held up the unused fork he'd given me to eat with.

My efforts were rewarded with a small smile that soon faded. "And my job?"

"What of it?"

"It doesn't... bother you?"

"No, why?" He frowned at that.

"Well, most people are unnerved, at the very least."

"I don't see why. It's not like you're a mass murderer or a phsycopath. It's just a job, that aparently pays reeeally well." I motioned to the apartment. "You're no different than a soldier or something. It's just a job. It doesn't define who you are."

I looked him straight in the eye gauging his reaction. Vincent smiled a full-on, bright smile that made my heart flutter. I gave him my signature super-bright Yuffie smile in return, actually meaning it for once, and for some reason a part of me wanted to see him smiling like that more often.

Shoving the last piece of omlet in my mouth, I stepped around the corner of the counter and entered the kitchen, walking right by Vincent to deposit my plate in the sink. I heard Vincent's breath catch.

"Even so what makes you think I won't try anything?" His voice was slightly gruffer than before, and I turned my head, to see his gaze concentrated on my exposed legs, then slowly move upward, before locking with mine. The lust burning in his gaze was unmistakeable.

I smirked at him. "Vinnie-boy, you aren't capable of raping me."

He raised an eyebrow. "Aren't I? I could easily overpower you." He stepped closer to me, and my smirk widened.

"Maybe so, but..." I closed the space between us, just barely refraining from touching him, but so close I could feel his body heat. I leaned up on my tip toes and whispered in his ear. "You can't rape the willing."

Just to mess with his head a bit, I pecked his cheek again, and danced away out of his grasp. Or tried to. His arms locked around my waist before I could get away, and pulled me against him, his arms like an iron grip around me.

"Yuffie. You're playing with fire here." His voice was gruffer still, but his words a warning, an optortunity for me to refuse. Not that I wanted to.

"I like heat." I wrapped my arms around his neck and met his smoldering eyes.

"You sure about that?" I sighed and stepped back out of his arms, watching his face fall, before grabbing his tie and tugging him out of the kitchen area, down the hall, and stopping just outside his bedroom.

I wrapped my arms around his neck again, and murmured, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Problem solved."

Vincent let out a low chuckle that sent shivers up my spine, but this time I didn't try to hide it as I pulled him down, crashing my lips to his. With a low moan, Vincent opened the door and led the way into the bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

i forgot to say this in the first chapter;

I do not own Final Fantasy VII. If I did, you can sure as heck bet that Vinnie and Yuffie would've gotten together for sure in DoC.

Anywho, bear with me for the first few chapters until the action picks up.

* * *

When I awoke that next morning, I was more comfortable than I ever remember being. I didn't want to get up, but the light shining in my eyes told me I needed to get my ass up, even if I didn't need to get to work until a bit later. Groaning, I stretched wondering why I was feeling so relaxed, when the person lying almost on top of me shifted as well. Wait, person?

My eyes flew open and looked down. Yuffie. A smile danced across my lips. Now I remembered. I had saved Yuffie from that rapist, and brought her home with me, because, well, I just can't stand it when a girl cries.

And then somehow, we ended up in my bed, and well, I'm sure you can guess what happened. I ran a hand over my face, berating myself for taking advantage of her. She couldn't have been thinking straight, I mean, she was almost raped for crying out loud!

And how did I know I could even trust her? My finely honed turk lie-detctor sense had gone off about something in her story, but I wasn't quite sure what. The death of her uncle maybe? She didn't seem too sad. Not like she had that flash of pain and sorrow when she mentioned her parents. And the whole mess with her boyfriend sounded iffy. Someone who had been abused for a while wasn't so perky. She was probably a spy of sorts, hell, she could've been sent to kill me even.

But looking down at her angelic face, I knew that I would do the same thing over again if I had the chance, even if she was an assassin, which I highly doubted. She was too... innocent! And her small frame had felt so good when she moved against me, and-

My thoughts broke off when Yuffie stirred and lazily opened her stormy silver eyes. Then started back up again when she rolled over and stretched, showing off her toned stomach and strong legs and other... things. I figured she must run or something, cause you didn't get that kind of muscle from lazing around all day, and she was stonger than she looked, as she had proved last night. Yuffie let out a yawn, slowly rolling over and stretching, much like a cat. I didn't miss her wince when she wiggled her hips a bit, and I frowned.

"You alright?" My voice must have startled her, cause she froze and looked over at me before smiling.

"I'm great, thanks for asking." she crawled back over and cuddled up right next to me again, resting her head on my chest with a content sigh. I let out a chuckle and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer, and letting my eyes fall shut again.

Maybe my coworkers were right and I had needed to get some, because I was relaxed and content like I've never been before. Even so, I had been a bit hesitant before. As wierd as it is to say this, I had never slept with anyone before, but something about Yuffie... Maybe it was her overly optimistic out-look, or her easy acceptance, or the fact that she was obviously a low-maitenance girl, something about her just called to me, and she was quite a looker as well.

Her stormy silver eyes were so expressive, her A-line hairstlye perfectly framing her face, her lithe, but strong form... It was all exactly what I wanted in a woman. However did I get so lucky and find her?

Yuffie giggled. "I never thought you'd be a cuddler. I like it."

"Hn." I made a semi-grunt noise of acknowledgement.

"Please tell me you don't have to go to work anytime soon, cause I really don't want to move. You make a really good pillow, Vinnie."

I cracked an eye open at that. "Well, I don't have to leave yet, but we should get up soon. We, er, need to talk." We had had sex, and I wasn't one to take that sort of thing lightly. I hoped Yuffie didn't think of this as just a one night stand.

"Oh boy. Okay talk. I'll listen." Yuffie groaned, proping herself up on her elbow so she could look me in the eye.

I sighed. "Alright, so, well, last night..."

Yuffie smirked. "We had hot, amazing sex, yes?"

A light blush stained my cheeks at her bluntness. I shouldn't be surprised, she did say she was raised by Aunt Lira. "Er, yes. About that... Where do we stand now?"

Yuffie furrowed her eyebrows. "Depends on where you want us to stand. Or lay, technically." One of Yuffie's hands was playing with a strand of my hair, as she avoided my eyes.

I looked to the side, away from her, but enjoyed the feel of her hands in my hair. "I want... For this to be a bit more than a one night stand." I let my eyes flicker over to hers tentatively.

She smiled at me brightly and let out the breath I didn't realize she was holding. "I was hoping you'd say that." Yuffie leaned down and gave me a long, slow kiss, before kissing my nose once and pulling back.

Throwing her legs over the side of the bed she yawned again, stretching her arms wide, giving me a good view of her back. "Now I don't know about you, but I'm starving!" I caught her just before she was about to get off the bed.

"Yuffie. Hold on a moment."

"Huh?" She turned her head. I reached out and traced the fading bruises on her back. Maybe she had been in an abusive relationship, but not with a boyfriend. She had too easily jumped into a relationship with me for that to be true.

"You're hurt." I hadn't noticed the night before in the dim room, but she had a faint bruises spread out along her back and now that I was looking, I saw even more of them on her legs and especially on her arms. Anger spiked through me. Why would anyone hurt her? Who would hurt my Yuffie?

"It's nothing. I'm fine." She turned her head and smiled at me, her normally expressive eyes guarded and... dull.

"What happened?"

"I told you. Reno." She shrugged, and her eyes flashed in something. Panic, or maybe fear, while that dull look remained. So she was lying about that then.

I abruptly moved over and pulled her into my chest, resting my head on her shoulder. "I won't let him touch you ever again." I promised.

Yuffie kissed my cheek again. "Thanks Vince. You're a really sweet guy." The odd dull look had faded from her eyes and they were sparkling like normal. Or, what I hoped was normal. So that ment that her eyes dulled when she lied. An easy enough trait to find.

She hadn't been in an abusive relationship, but she had the marks that said she did... Or was it possible that she was in fact an assassin? Or a fighter of some kind? Her muscles were toned enough, but then again, she was of Wutain nobility, and everyone in even a semi-noble family could fight at least somewhat. Even I had had Aunt Lira give me some basic tips that I still found usefull today.

There was no doubt then that she could fight, and knowing Aunt Lira, she was probably even a match for me, but her footsteps didn't sound like that of a shinobi. So what was Yuffie hiding from me?


	3. Chapter 3

Me no own FFVII or Yuffie, Vinnie, Aerith or Tifa.

* * *

After I had taken a bath and was dressed, sorta, in another one of Vinnie's shirts and a pair of his boxers, I was sitting down to a breakfast of orgasmic omelets.

"So, Vinnie, as much as I love dressing in your clothes," I paused to shove omelet in my face. "I can't wear them forever."

He raised an eyebrow. "So what do we do?"

I took a gulp of water. "I was thinking, I'd call some friends to loan me some clothes and then we can go shopping or something, and get me some new ones."

Vincent frowned. "What about your old ones?"

I cast my eyes down. Time to act a little. "Well, they're still at Reno's, so, I'd rather not deal with that."

Vincent's eyes narrowed. "You do realize that you're now dating a Turk right? And I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty well-known, even for a Turk. If Reno gives you some trouble, I can handle him."

My gaze shot up to Vincent, and I took in his somewhat intimidating stance. He was wearing a dress shirt and slacks, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed. With his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, you could see his forearms were muscular, and the firm, strong set of his shoulders. Vincent simply exuded masculine strength, and I almost drooled. Can you say 'aww'? That's a good guy, threatening to rough a jerk up for you. Even though if it came down to it, I could probably kick Vinnie's ass... But he didn't need to know that.

I smiled at him, then ate the rest of my omelet. "Can I use your phone then? I'll call a friend from school."

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "School?"

"College." I grabbed my plate and dunked it into the sink, stealing Vincent's empty plate as well, and proceeding to wash them. "Their names are Tifa and Aerith. I have History of the Planet with them. It's a fun class."

He walked over to the counter and slid me his cell phone. I flipped it open and dialed the number that I knew well.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tifa! It's Yuffie. Listen, I need some clothes and stuff."

"Oh? But what about...? You know?"

"Yeah, I got out, but I was, well, mugged on the way to the bank. And my clothing was ruined. So, I need something to wear when I go shopping."

"Oh my gosh Yuffie! What!? Why didn't you call?!"

"Well, I was saved by a very dashing guy. I spent the night at his house."

"Are you sure you should be doing that? I mean, with what happened last time..."

"Yeah, Reno was a douche, but Vinnie is really sweet!"

"Yeah, sure, Vinnie?"

"Um, Vincent."

I could almost hear Tifa narrow her eyes. "Vincent, what?"

"Not Vincent what, Vincent, er, Valentine?"

"..."

"Tifa?"

"Yuffie."

"Yes?"

"Did I mishear you? Because I thought you said 'Vincent Valentine'."

I gulped. "Yes, I did. Problem?"

"..."

"Um, Teef a-"

"ARE YOU INSANE!" I flinched and pulled the phone away fro my ear. "VINCENT FUCKING VALENTINE! What's wrong with you?! First Reno screws you over, now you spent the night with a damn TURK. I swear Yuffie, sometimes you're just asking for it."

"I take offense to that! Hello, who's boyfriend is in SOLDIER? That's right, you _and_ Aerith! So don't go there!"

"That's SOLDIER not the fucking Turks! Wh- nevermind. Forget this. Where are you at?'

I looked at Vince. "What's the address?"

"Platinum Valley Suites, at 1101 S Wayland, room 806." Vincent answered.

"Platinum Valley Suites, at 1101 S Wayland, room 806."

"Wait, is he there with you?"

"Yes?"

"For this entire conversation?"

"Yes?"

"... Why did you not say this sooner?"

"Slipped my mind?"

"... Nevermind. Aerith and I will be over soon, alright?"

"Yup! See you later!" I ended the phone call and slid the phone to Vincent. Now, in reality, Tifa and Aerith were also in the Clan of Black Sun. But we were all signed up for the same class. It was for cover purposes like this. Which was why we were in school at all. But Vinnie didn't need to know that.

Vincent frowned. "I'm sorry if I caused any problems."

I gave him a smile, and came over to his side to give him a hug. "Don't worry about it. They're just miffed that their boyfriends aren't the most badass anymore." My eyes narrowed as I glared up at him. "Now get down here and give me a kiss." He really was ridiculously taller than me.

Vince smirked and lifted me up so I was sitting on the counter. I moved my arms to wrap around his neck and blissfully sighed as my lips met his.

Yeah, Teef was probably more concerned about the fact that there was a chance that I might someday have to hit my boyfriend. But, whatever.

~YVYVYVYVYV~

I was sitting on the sofa, cuddling with Vinnie when they came. Yes, that's right. _Them. _ Tifa and Aerith.

Shooting up off the sofa, I opened the door and gave them both a huge hug. To keep up appearances and whatnot. When I let them go of them Tifa and Aerith eyed me up and down with a smile tugging on their lips.

"Wow, Yuffie, I knew you slept here, but did you have to sleep with him?" Tifa commented. She knew I was a virgin, or used to be, no matter how circumstances arranged it otherwise. But this time it was the opposite.

I leaned closer. "I know, but I couldn't resist! Have you _seen _him?" I motioned over my shouldered to Vinnie, who was standing. "Come in! You've gotta meet him!" I dragged them in.

"Vinnie, this is Tifa and Aerith. Teef, Aerith, this is Vince. Now as much as I love Vinnie's clothe's I'm going to change!" I grabbed the bag that Aerith was holding, and darted into the bathroom, changing quickly. But when I saw what those two had brought, my eye twitched. Really? REALLY?

I sighed, grit my teeth and pulled on the horrid garment.

"Hey, Boobs, you couldn't have gotten shorts and a tank top instead of _this_?" I pointed at what I was wearing and glared at them.

Tifa snickered. "But Yuffie, Aerith's dress looks really nice on you!"

"But it's pink!" I whined.

A low chuckle drew my attention to Vincent. "Yuffie, you look fine."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't get used to this frilly, girly nonsense. It's great on Aerith, but I am a tomboy! I will not stand for this!" I grabbed Tifa and Aerith and dragged them back out the door, then paused. I ran back inside and pulled Vinnie down to give him a kiss. "I'll be back soon!" I ran back out, dragging my two friends.

"Oh come on Yuffie! Why do we have to leave so soon?" Tifa complained as I pulled her and Aerith into the elevator. "We didn't even get to finish interogating him!"

I used my ultra-mega-assassin-that's-going-to-enjoy-killing-you-very-slowly glare on Tifa.

"Oh, come on now Yuffie. He was actually doing pretty good!" Aerith said, and I then rounded my glare onto her, but it wasn't quite as fierce as before.

I let my eyes fall closed and sighed, then stalked out the elevator when it dinged open. "Alright. First things first, we need to get some of my clothes and things. HQ."

"Yuffie, you sure you should be saying that? I mean, what if he's listening somehow?" Aerith whispered.

I smiled at her. "Don't worry, I've been tracking his positioning. He's too far away, and I made sure to short circut any listening device he could have planted during the ride on the elevator." I winked at her. "I'm not the princess of theives for nothing." Moving with purpose down the street, I broke into a loud conversation with Tifa and Aerith, that was full of giggles, and those two hinting things at me. To an outsider, it looked like we were merely college girls strolling to the mall.

Suddenly, our conversation cut off, as we rounded a corner into an alleywall, heading toward a shifty figure leaning against the wall and smoking.

"Ya know Brat, that's a failure of ya. To go after just a common rapist and need to get rescued." The figure laughed, running a hand though his dirty blonde hair.

I scowled at him. "Shut up old man! Now open up, I got places do be." Cid rolled his eyes, but elbowed the wall behind him regardless, and the floor of the alley silently opened, a trapdoor leading down rock stairs into a dimly lit cavern.

"See you around Cid!" Tifa called as she walked down the stairs.

"Thank you Cid." Aerith bowed slightly before following Tifa. I scoffed at her politeness.

"Try not to die too soon old man." I waved as I followed my friends. Then squealed and ducked down as the trap door closed over where my head had been. "Jackass!" I yelled up at the cieling.

Still grumbling to myself and ignoring the giggles of the other two, I trugded down the long dark tunnel. It used to unnerve me, but I was used to it after all these years. Soon enough I could see torchlight shining before us. Two statues with with spears stood at attention on either side of a large double-door, the torches next to them.

Striding past Tifa and Aerith, I opened the double doors and stepped inside the much more brigtly lit complex. No longer was it the undergrond tunnel. Though we were still underground, the main part of the complex was structured like a castle or a manison. We were in the part that looked like a victorian mansion, with fancy elaborate rugs, classical paintings, and elegant wallpaper and crown molding. Now that we were safe, Tifa didn't waste any time before starting to grill me as we walked to my room.

"Oh my gosh, Yuffie! I cannot believe this! Artemis is going to shit bricks when he hears about this! What were you thinking?"

"Um, that He's really, _really_ hot, and pretty sweet too?" I ventured.

"Well, I hate to say this, but he was fairly good looking..." Aerith blushed slightly at her own comment.

"Oh, you know you're a sucker for the tall, black haired ones!" Tifa nudged her. "And I agree with that too, but that wasn't what I meant. I was refering to the fact that he's a turk, and you're an assassin. Now way those two jobs will mix greatly! If he finds out, what do you think he's going to do? Say, 'whatev, that's cool, pass the salt, babe?'" Tifa snarked with suave voice.

I suppressed a slight snicker at Tifa's impersonation. "Well obviously not. If he finds out, I'll probably have to dodge a few rounds from his riddiculously large handgun, and jump out the window. BUT! He does seem really nice. And I do actually like him and want to give this whole thing a chance. So, I think I might just not take up anymore missions for a while, lay low, try to live normally, see where this thing goes. It's not like our Clan is a typical assassin clan. I have a choice if I want to work or not. So, I'm taking a break. Well, from any non-elite missions. I can't back out of those with a healthy conciense."

Tifa nodded, but she still had a light frown. "Sounds okay, but..."

I stopped walking and turned to her. "Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing if it was you and Cloud in this position."

She frowned at that, but didn't correct me. I knew I was right. I looked at Aerith. She looked unsure.

"I'm with you giving it a shot, Yuffie, but I'm still worried. It's dangerous." Aerith's sincere expression was hard to argue against. "If it was any other turk, it wouldn't be so bad, but, well, he's renouned for being really good at his job."

I gave her a reassuring smile. "Yeah, well, so am I. And an assassin, especially in _our_ clan, who stands out, is sure to have enough skills to outsmart _and_ outfight any turk."

She sighed, and I could tell that she wasn't fully comforted, but Tifa seemed to be feeling a lot better. "Yuff, you're right. I mean, no way could any guy not in our clan be strong enough to fight you. You're a mini _Lira _for Shiva's sake." She gave me a warm smile and slung her arm around my shoulders. "And If you ever do get into any trouble, me and the gang'll coem bail you out, no worries!" Aerith nodded at that, a determined look in her eyes.

Suppressing an 'aww', I hugged the two girls that were like my sisters. Anyone who calls assassins heartless is full of it and can go suck monkey balls.


	4. Chapter 4

Me no own FFVII

This chapter is in Vinnie's POV. I'm going to try to alternate pov between Yuffie and Vincent, with maybe an extra thrown in here and there, but it should normally be Vinnie then Yuffie, then Vinnie, then Yuffie, then Vinnie, and so on. Please bear with me for right now, It is pretty slow going, but it'll pick up soon. I just don't want to have Yuffie and Vincent super lovey dovey after a day or two of metting each other, you know? I normally tend to want to rush past this beginning part, but I'm trying to slow this all down, at least a little in the beginning.

* * *

I finished re-assembling my rifle and then put it away gently in the locker/safe where I kept my things. I grabbed my jacket and shrugged it on. Today, or I should say this week, had been quiet. Nothing amazing had happened, and since I had guarded the president last month, This month, I was free of guard duty, and had to go on other too important for mere soldier missions. Fortunately, of unfortunately, however you want to look at it, things were calm. There was virtually no activities from Anti-Shinra groups, nor was any settlement rebelling against anything. I liked these times, but at the same time, I usually found them a bit... boring.

And thus my mind was left open to wander. And where does any good Turk's mind wander? To their girlfriend, of course. Or a present mystery. Or, in my case both. My Turk sense was tingling, and I wasn't sure about what. Now, I could ask someone, but I wasn't going to spill about my technically 'dead' girlfriend. Not only would people think I was insane, but it would be ridiculously difficult to dig up any information on anyone who was pronounced dead three years ago. Obviously.

Which led to the question; how did Yuffie live normally? ONe would think her lack of identity would cause issues. No duh, she probably had a fake ID, but wouldn't her college get suspicious about her childhood? And what about Tifa and Aerith? Those two, while seemingly normal, had something off about them, that sent my Turk senses tingling also, but for what who knows? The few words I'd said to them when Yuffie was changing was typical stuff, things one would expect when one was starting to date a friend. Much more so if said person dating a friend was a Turk. I thought back the beginnings of an interrogation I had been submitted to.

**_Flashback _**

Yuffie grabbed the bag from Aerith's hand and darted into the bathroom. I watched her with a light smile on my face when Tifa's quiet but intense voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"So what are your intentions regarding Yuffie?" I turned to look at her, not too terribly surprised to see her eyes narrowed in a surprisingly effective glare.

"Nothing bad, I assure you. I truly care for Yuffie and would like to see where this relationship may go. I promise I will do no harm to her." My face was straight, and I was totally serious. I was hoping that her friends would warm up to me, but it was doubtful, considering my occupation. People were either my fans (or _-shudder-_ my fangirls) or they downright hated me. I don't mean to come off as self-absorbed, but I do, in fact, have fangirls, and I really, really wish I didn't. And obviously neither Tifa nor Aerith were fans of mine, so there was a good chance that they were in the group that hated me. But then again, considering Yuffie's easy acceptance, who could know?

"Mr. Valentine, I don't mean to insinuate anything, but I truly hope you will do as you say." Aerith seemed to be the very polite, ladylike one of the three girls, from what I'd seen. "But if you don't and do end up hurting her, I will track you down and hurt you. You don not want to know what I'd do to you, Mr. Valentine, but it will not be pleasant, and I highly doubt you will be able to have any kids." She smiled sweetly, and, oh yes, I do believe I paled. Well wouldn't you? She was scary!

"Just Vincent is fine. Mr. Valentine is my father." Well, that's not really true. _Dr. _Valentine was my father, but same difference.

Aerith nodded, and Tifa looked as if she was about to say more when Yuffie re-entered the scene. "Hey, Boobs, yo couldn't have gotten shorts and a tank top instead of _this?" _She pointed att herself and glared at her friend's. Yuffie was wearing a pink spaghetti strap dress with a loose skirt that went down to her calves. She did look good, but it was somehow... off. Yuffie probably did look better in shorts and a tank top. Or maybe I just didn't like this as much because I couldn't see her legs as well. Yeah, that was probably it.

Tifa snickered. "But Yuffie, Aerith's dress looks really nice on you!"

"But it's pink!" I couldn't resist a low chuckle at that.

"Yuffie, you look fine."

**_End__ Flashback_**

"-cent! Earth to Vincent!" I was pulled out of my reverie by Roland, one of my fellow turks.

"What?" I snapped, but only a little.

"Jeez, what's got you so lost in thought? A girl maybe? Did you finally get laid?" I just stared at him. Because my eyes were an eerie red, I didn't even have to glare. Just staring at someone unblinkingly was normally enough to wierd them out. Roland however, didn't seem to be getting the message.

Roland had brown hair that was shaggy, tied back at the nape of his neck and green eyes. His attitude was snarky and sarcastic, and he always had a lewd comment of some form on the tip of his tounge. If it wasn't for his superb skill at martial arts, he probably would've been fired long ago.

"What? Am I right?" He perked up at this, eyes greedily scanning my face. There was no way he didn't see how my eye twitched in irritation. "Whoa! I _am_ right!" Roland smirked wickedly. "Damn, must be some babe to catch your eye."

I rolled my eyes, and turned to walk away. "Shut up, Roland."

"Aww! Come on Vince! Don't be like that! Spill some details!"

My eyebrow twitched as I hit the button for the elevator. Roland jogged up next to me. "What's she doing now? Why are you here instead of banging her or something?"

I sighed. "She's shopping."

"Shopping? All day? Damn, if I were you, I'd get some wire taps, or mini cameras, you know, the kind we use for surveillance, and bug her. You know, to make sure she isn't sneaking around with someone behind your back." I frowned. He really was quite the creep.

"No thank you, I won't do a thing like that. Unlike you, I can actually trust the women I associate with." The elevator dinged and I got in and hit the close doors button before Roland could think to slide in next to me. As the descent began I let out a breath of relief. He was too annoying to handle.

~YVYVYVYVYVYVYV~

I was more staring at the TV, pondering things about Yuffie, than actually watching what was on the thing when Yuffie came home. She knocked loudly on the door, and then before I could een get up to answer, she opened it and walked right in.

"What's up Vinnie?" She was toting bags of stuff and kicked the door closed as she tucked something up in her hairband.

"Just watching TV. Wasn't the door locked?" I questioned. I couldn't help my suspicions rise. I was a Turk after all. But I tried to banish them. I didn't want nor need to doubt Yuffie.

"Yeah, keyword was. I've always been good at lock-picking. It's rope escape that I have issues with." Her eyes narrowed as she thought back to some past memory. "Anywho, just lemme dump this stuff in the bedroom and I'll be right out!"

I raised an eyebrow. Add that to the list of suspicious skills. I heard a thump, then a loud "Ow!" from the bedroom. Yuffie came out hoping. "Hey Vinnie, there's ice in your fridge, right? K, good." I tried my best to keep from smiling a little as she hopped on one foot to to the fridge.

"Are you alright?" I asked, only slightly concerned. She didn't seem to be in too much pain.

"Huh? Yeah, no prob! The bed just jumped out at me and I stubbed my toe." She gave me a salute an d a wink before pulling back on the freezer door, still on only one foot. She tugged hard on it for it to opened, putting herself off balance. Pulling her with her arm to get her from falling backwards, she pulled a bit to hard and her forehead connected with the fridge door. "Itai! When the heck did that get there?" NOw I had to fight a chuckle at her clumsiness. I got up and picked her up by the waist, setting her on the counter.

"Hey! Who said you could manhandle me?" She quipped with a pout.

"You seem to be only doing more damage to yourself. Just let me take care of you." I opened the freezer, and after a quick scan, brought out a bag of frozen peas. After grabbing a thin towel to wrap that in, I gave the bundle to Yuffie who laid it on her foot as she rubbed her head.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I frowned lightly, coming a bit closer and gently taking her hand to get a better look at the red spot on her head.

"Yeah! Fine, just a bump, I've had worse. Last week, I gave myself a nosebleed after running into a door frame. You'd be surprised at how often I injure myself." My lips twitched upwards slightly, and I leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

"Well, try not to hurt yourself too much. You'll make me worry." Forget list of suspicious skills, way too clumsy to be an assassin.

"Worry? Ha! You'll probably just crack up like Ar-ieth and Tifa." Her save was a good one, but I caught it. She had started to say something else. But what? I didn't let on that I heard her slip up, but I made a mental note of it. Was there a suspicious list after all?


	5. Chapter 5

Don't own FFVII or Yuffie and Vincent. Though I really wish I did. Don't we all?

* * *

I smiled as I chatted with Vinnie, feeling accomplished. I'd managed to get a few of my favorite items, and I'd gotten to go shopping. My wardrobe was almost back to it's complete epicness.

Currently, Vinnie and I were walking to a cafe to get some dinner, since we both didn't feel like cooking tonight. And we were also minor failures at with the stove, but that isn't important. Sadly, things didn't go quite as conveniently as we'd hoped.

"Oy! Yuffie!" A masculine voice called behind me, and I froze, my eyes wide with shock, and maybe a bit of fear, before I slammed a mask down. By Vince's narrowed eyes, I figured he'd seen my expression. Shit. So, how to work this so my cover won't be blown or look suspicious... My mind scrambled for the answers, as I instinctively grabbed Vincent's hand and pulled him along faster. Sadly, it wasn't fast enough, as I felt a hand grab mine other one and pull me back, halting our progress.

"Oy, don't ignore me!" The hand kept pulling, yanking me back into a hard muscular chest, To my complete embarrassment and horror, I squeaked as it happened. Yes, squeaked, how horrible is that? "I've been looking all over for you! Where the hell have you been?"

Clenching my teeth, I pushed him away, stepping back to glare at the attractive, black haired, smoky eyed man. Gray. And what a fine time for my literal partner in crime(he was practically my sidekick in assassining) to show up. "Hey! Back off! I don't need to tell you shit!" I growled at him.

His eyes narrowed. "Yeah, actually, you do."

"You don't own me!" I snarled at him, hoping he'd take my bait, as the perfect role for him formed in my mind.

Gray raised and eyebrow. "Are you really going there, hun?" The endearment was slightly mocking. "In case you've forgotten, yeah, I kinda do." This was true. Gray and I had a contract and thus I was technically claimed by him.

Now I realise this is probably terribly confusing to all of you, so I'll take a minute here to explain. Gray wasn't human. He was a shade, a half-shadow demon. Now, shades feed off of human emotions and energy. While simply sampling a human's emotions would be enough to keep them sustained for a time, with no harm to any humans, it was rather unsatisfactory. Lots of shades didn't give a rip about humans and would literally drain them dry of their life force. However, there were also shades like Gray, who happened to like humans, and/or hated the taste of negative emotions like fear, anger, jealousy, greed, ect. Shades of all types were dealt with by the clan of Black Sun, along with the other types of demons that were kept hush-hush. It was one of the things that elite members, like me, Tifa, and Aerith, often dealt with.

Anywho, good shades, like Gray, often chose to make a contract, more or less, with assassins who were strong enough to support them off of their auric energy, the energy all living things possess. In exchange for being more or less a food source, we got a powerful immortal creature as a good friend and ally, and access to all of the shade's powers, via a telepathic bond of sorts. Yes, that means I could literally tap into all of Gray's epic powers, which I will detail later, thus elevating me to his status in the eyes of other shades, who, by the way, were total elitists. People like me, with pacts with shades, were called 'shadow kissed'. Wonder why, huh? So, anywho, now that story time's over, back to the actual conversation.

"You don't own her." Vincent's voice was cold, hard, and it definitely held a threat. Gray's attention snapped to him. He was probably getting irritated at all the negative emotions Vinnie was probably projecting.

"ANd who the hell are you?" Gray snapped at Vincent. "Yuffie, let's go." He pulled me away, or tried to to as I yanked my arm out of his grasp with excessive force, making my hand brush the underside of my chin, sending out a light auric pulse to activate the mark linking me with Gray.

_Shut up! Well, don't shut up, but you're about to blow my freaking cover! _I sent the vicious mental message to Gray, then also giving him a flash course of my backround- the one I'd supplied to Vincent.

Not missing a beat, Gray scowled grabbing my arm again. Perfect. He got the hint. "No! Leave me alone, Reno!"

Gray looked furious. "You are coming home with me right now Yuffie, whether you like it or not. There are _things_ we need to get done." I almost smiled at how well Gray was playing his role. Instead, I scrambled back, colliding with Vincent on 'accident' and made myself jump in fright before I 'noticed' it was him, giving him a thankful look when he disconnected Gray's hand from my forearm. Taking his hand, I made my own tremble as I turned to face Gray.

"We are over, Reno." My voice trembled, just slightly. "I told you that the last time we saw each other, and I don't want anything more to do with you." Gray's hand noticeably twitched, and a flinched back just slightly. Damn, this was some seriously convincing improv, however I still made a point to keep my back to Vincent. The last thing I needed was for him to notice the trademark symbol of my lying, my dulled eyes.

"We're over when I say we're over!" Gray snarled.

Vincent butted in once more. I was glad he was letting me handle this on my own for the most part. If he would've tried to handle this for me, I'd have had to chew him out later. I wasn't a damsel in distress that he had to protect. "She doesn't want to date you. That's that. Now leave her alone." By his voice, I could tell a glare was paired with it.

"This isn't any of your business, so scram!"

"This is exactly my business. You're giving my girlfriend trouble." Wow. Was Vinnie perfect or what? The perfect amount of posessiveness without going all out caveman, and getting overbearing.

Gray's eyes widened, and anger quickly took over the shock. "Your-? No! She is mine! I don't care who you are, you don't have right to just claim a girl."

"That's true, but Yuffie wasn't claimed, she agreed to date me. Now I suggest you leave, or you'll get hurt." I didn't miss the way Vincent moved his arm, so his jacket showed his gun holster.

_Back off now. I do actually want to stay with Vincent._ I told Gray silently. He backed up a step, before he firmed up.

"Who the hell are you to threaten me? Some sort of mobster? And what the hell, Yuffie? You choose some gun-toting pyshco over me?" 'Reno' was being the perfect douche.

"I'm Vincent Valentine. Now go." Vinnie's tone ended all argument's Gray had. He backed up and headed away with a mostly fearful glare. "This isn't over." Gray turned and stormed off shoving past an innocent couple viciously, and I almost laughed.

_You are going to give me all of the yummy details later. _Gray's voice said in my head.

I turned back to Vincent, deactivating my mark after giving Gray a mental, _W__ill do._

"I'm sorry about that Vinnie." I kept my gaze downcast. He moved his arm around me, and tugged me closer to his side.

"It's alright. Don't worry about him. So what are you in the mood to eat?"

I shrugged. "Whatever. You choose. I'm not too terribly familiar with a ton of the restaurants in Midgar."

"Alright, how about we go to one of my favorite pizza places?"

I nodded and smiled up at Vincent hesitantly. "Sure thing! I love pizza."

Vincent smiled down at me, then gave me a very small tug forward. "So tell me, you're really good friends with Tifa and Aerith?"

I let out a sigh of relief. Vinnie was a master at subject changes. "Oh yeah! We girls do everything together! Well, and Gray too, that's Teef's cousin. When they aren't on assignment, Teef and Aerith's boyfriends hang with us too. Zack, and Cloud. They're in SOLDIER."

"Really?"

"Yeah! You know, I always said I'd never date someone in SOLDIER or something like that, cause I'd always be worried that they'd get hurt or something, but, I see why they do it now."

"Hmm. How did you get so close?"

"Well, as I said before, Teef, Aerith, and I, have a class together. Actually, I think Aerith went to my high school, but we never really talked much, and last year, I had a different class with Tifa. Anywho, one day, I tripped getting down from my chair after class. You know how those college seats are, staggered, like bleachers? Yeah, I was going into a headlong tumble, but Tifa tried to catch me, and failed, so we were both falling and then we crashed into Gray, who broke our fall." Vincent chuckled lightly at that, and I smacked his chest lightly, but smiled anywho. It was pretty funny.

"He was there to pick Teef up to do something or another that they never really got to do. I felt so bad about it that I bought those two ice cream, then we got talking and we started hanging out. Tifa and Aerith knew each other cause their boyfriends are friends and I just kinda integrated in with them. Gray and I are good friends too, but I figured that I should give him a pre-warning about you being my boyfriend, otherwise, he'd probably try to pick you up. He's flaming gay, but a real flirt with both boys and girls." I took a breath.

"So you've only know each other for a year?" Vinnie questioned. He really cared at what I had to say. I almost awwed.

"Yeah, but it totally feels that we've know each other for longer." Which we had, but that was the public story of why we were seen together all the time. Yeah, we were that thorough to make sure all of the bases were covered. All of those things had actually been staged to happen, and that's what we told people in situations like mine when we had to fabricate a backround.

The conversation continued on until we got to the pizza place and ordered, where it picked up again. Even after we had eaten, and were going back to Vince's place the conversation still flowed, both of us alternating with stories from our past. I found out that Vinnie's dad had worked at Shinra too, a scientist, but had died recently. His mother lived in Calm, so he wasn't able to visit her a whole lot, cause he was normally a too busy at work, things like that, plus I got familiar with his likes and dislikes and he with mine. When we got back to his condo, we settled downon his couch, cuddling.

"So, Yuffie." Vince said after a small lull in the conversation. "What are you going to do about your housing developement?"

I blinked, and frowned lightly. "I'm not sure. I suppose I'll have to find an apparment or something." I sighed at that. Damn, appartment shopping was a freaking hassle.

"You know, if you'd like to," Vince cleared his throat and looked away. I caught sight of a blush on his cheeks. "You could, um, stay here, if you want. I wouldn't mind."

I couldn't stop myself from smiling really widely. "Really?" I blushed at how eager and happy I sounded, and quickly cooled down my voice. "I mean, if I won't be too much trouble..."

Vincent chuckled. "Yeah. You'll be no trouble. And it makes sense, cause I'm sure you'll be spending the night here fairly often anyways." He winked at me, and I giggled.

"Yeah that's probably true." I moved so I wasn't snuggled into Vincent's side anymore, throwing my leg over his, straddling him with a smirk. Leaning close I braced my elbows on the back of the couch as my hands played with Vincent's hair. His hands settled on m hips comfortably as my mouth descended onto his.

* * *

I tried to give a lot more backround in this chapter and the threads of plot are starting up. I'm hoping I can get some action going withing the next two chapters. Sorry if Vinnie's a bit ooc, but he hasn't even met Lucretia at this point, so I figure he's a lot more open now, you know without having been used as a medical experiment and getting his heart ripped out of his chest by a certain bitch scientist we all know and hate. (Pardon my french, but that chick just pushes all of my buttons at once and the stuff she did to Vincent... she's number one in my list of 'people I want to decapitate with a blunt object') Anywho, review and tell me what you think. If you have any ideas that you want me to tie into the story, feel free to tell me, and I'll give it my best shot. :D


	6. Chapter 6

Yes, I know I said that I'd try to alternate povs, but this one's in Yuffie's pov again. Just thought I'd inform ya. Also, there's a nice little skip in time, cause I wanna get to the action!

So sorry about the late update, there's really no excuse except me being lazy, and I feel quite guilty, but I should get back into the daily-ish updates soon. Promise you'll never have to wait more than a week or so.

Me no own FFVII

* * *

I stood at the stove, cooking up some eggs and bacon for me and Vinnie as he got his suit on and ready for work, me still dressed in my pj's. Today was my turn cooking breakfast, an alternating pattern that Vinnie and I had fallen into the last few months. Yes, you read right, months. It had been right around three and a half or four months since Vinnie and I had met, and I had moved in here. Things were going splendidly. So spedidly, it seemed like a story.

I'd since started working at a pet shop, run by Tifa's aunt. Or so Vinnie thought. In reality, it was cover. Now, it was actually a pet store, and I did actually work there, but if I was need in some assassin things, I'd go 'work' with Gray covering for me. As a shade, Gray had the ability to change his appearance, so he'd shift to look like me, just in case Vinnie poped in for a surprise visit or something, which he did. Tifa's 'aunt', was usually Gray in disguise.

Now you're probably wondering why Gray would do so much to help my cover. Now that's easy. I thought back to the first conversation we'd had concerning Vince.

_Flashback_

"See you after work Vinnie!" I gave him a kiss as he left, and he nodded in responded with a nidd as he left.

As I shut and locked the door, I slunk over to the couch, activating my mark.

_Okay Gray, what do you want to know? I'm sure the wait has been crazy for you. _It was only yesterday when the two of them had met, and I called him up mentally the first chance I had.

_Finally! Sheesh Yuff, you'd think you were doing this to me on purpose. Are you alone now? _Gray's irritated voice sounded in my head, making me roll my eyes.

_Yeah, I am. Why?_

_I'm coming over. _That was another of a shade's abilities. Teleportation, more or less. Doesn't being shadow kissed get more and more appealing the more you think of it?

Not to long after I heard Gray's last message, a mass of shadows gathered to my left and hardened into a from which became Gray. The shade flopped onto the couch next to me, put his chin into his hand, and stared at me expectantly.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

I smirked. "He's pretty good in bed." Gray groaned, and fully flopped down on the couch, laying his head on my lap.

"It's not fair!" He complained. "All the good ones are either straight or taken!" Gray pouted up at me, and I had to laugh at that.

"Figures that's what you're upset about." Gray was gay. Totally, flaming, gay. That was the only reason I wasn't officially claimed as his mate, since most humans who were shadow kissed were mates. But Gray just decided he liked me and proposed the deal to me.

"Well of course! That Valentine is a hunk! What I wouldn't give to be in your place." He allowed himself a second or two more of pouting, before he sat up, once again looking at me expectantly, an eager look on his face. "So tell me _everything._"

With one last smile at his behavior I started into the story. Gray was worse than a teenage girl when it came to gossip.

_End Flashback_

"Hey Yuffie, just so you know, I'm going to be a bit later today. There's a fairly important briefing that's gonna happen later." I nodded as I slid Vinnie's plate to him. As I was about to reply my phone went off.

Holding up a finger for Vinnie, I checked the caller ID, then flipped it open. "What's up Selena?" Selena was Tifa's 'aunt' whom I worked for.

"Oh Yuffie! It's horrible! Little Marlene is sick today with the stomach flu! I'm so sorry to bother you so early, but do you think you can come in and take care of the shop while I go see to her?" The gentle, but very worried voice greeted me over the phone, and I just barely stopped my eye from twitching. I had a mission to deal with.

Yeah, you read right, a mission. As in, assassin job time. Yes, yes, I did give it up, but I was one of the few skilled enough to take on most supernatural opponents, so I couldn't just endanger my family because of me wanting to hold a cover. Sighing, I nodded, before realizing I was on the phone. "Yeah, sure, no problem. Give me ten minutes." We exchanged goodbyes and I snapped my phone shut, sliding it back into my pocket.

"Marlene's sick. I'm afraid I'm going to have to man the shop today. I gotta take off Vin-Vin." I inhaled my breakfast really fast as I spoke. "Funny how we both stay late on the same day." I got up, gently dropping my plate in the sink and giving Vince a peck on the lips before grabbing my purse and tying up my shoes.

"Hn. I'll see you when we get back then." I gave Vince a last smile as I ran out the door. I have seven minutes to haul ass to the shop across town. Greeeat.

~YVYVYVYVYVYV~

I burst into the shop, seeing a forty-some lady in faded capris and a cream sweater. She had slightly wavy brown hair pulled back in a loose bun at the nape of her neck. A few strands hung loose, framing her gently pretty face. She had laugh lines around her eyes and mouth, but her expresion now was worried, though relief was clear when she turned to me.

"There you are, right on time as usual. I take it you know what to do?" I smiled and nodded.

"I would imagine it's the same as every other day I work here, Selena." I walked to the back, Selena acompanying me. Once we entered the back room, Selena's gentle demeanor changed as she slouched back and tipped her head slightly as she studied my outfit.

"Alright, so here's the deal." The fairly deep male voice came from her lips, making me cringe. It was always so wierd to hear Gray talk as himself when in disguise as a woman. And his disguises were always perfect down to a tee, as one could see by looking at his current form. Shade powers were really shocking at times. "There's been a minor breech not to far from here. Pop into HQ to get specifics, but I think it's just a few lesser demons, nothing too bad, but accompanied by a Glabrezu." I flinched. Those things were nasty. Twelve foot tall with funky pincers and a hide that's a pain in the ass to cut through.

"Alright. I'm on my way."

~YVYVYVYVYVYVYVYVYV~

**Vinnie's POV**

I sighed as I stepped out of the Shinra building. The meeting had gone quicker than expected, as it was just a quick breifing. Aparrantly in a month or two, some the turks would be called upon to protect some rising scientists that were reseaching something that I didn't really pay attention to. Right now they were setting up and renovating the place where the scientists would research at, or something like that, I had toned out the majority of the meeting. What was interesting though, is that there were high suspicions that other companies or people would want to stop this research and there was a good chance that assassins would be sent after the scientists. That was bound to be intersesting, and if I didn't have Yuffie here, I would probably jump at the job, and hope I got it. However, as it was, I didn't want to be apart from Yuffie for however long the research was going to take place. And it would definately be a while.

Speaking of Yuffie... I glanced at my watch, noting the the time, 3:17. I smiled. Perfect.

Without a doubt she was still working now and would be for a couple more hours yet. Hopefully a visit from her boyfriend who happened to bring her favorite snacks(sunflower seeds and chocolate) would perk her up.

* * *

I couldn't resist that cliff hanger there. Once again, so, so sorry about the long wait. I don't really have a decent excuse, but school's starting to get hectic, so yeah. Calculus fries my brain and leaves me wanting to not do anything.

Anywho, the next chapter will be up much sooner than this one was, cause I'm not downright cruel, but it will probably still be Friday, possibly Saturday when it's updated the next time.

On another note, the setting in FFVII is confusing! They don't seem to ever use cars, not really, but they do have trucks and helecopters and all of those fun things we don't have like airships, so just because I'm too lazy, and don't really care enough to figure it out, I'm gonna make it so they have the same technology as we do, set in the FFVII universe, you get me? Like cars, cell phones, Ipads, and Ipods while still having all the places from FFVII and lots of monsters outside city borders. Cities will also be like modern day cities. I'm thinking of Midgar as New York, but smaller, maybe like Chicago or something, just with a lower population. Places like Neibelheim(Sp?) with just be smaller towns. Like Sioux Falls. Brownies to you if you can tell me where that is.

Anywho, Tell me what you think, love it, hate it, anything you'd want to happen, predictions of the story, ect. Remember, feedback motivates me to update faster!


	7. Chapter 7

Yes, yes, I know this one's late too, but only a day this time, so not as bad. I'm horrible at meeting deadlines. I get so distracted by a bunch of things and whatnot. Anywho, here's the chapter I'm sure you've been looking froward to.

I no own FFVII.

* * *

I swung my body out of the way, just barely getting out of the reach of the large, serrated pincers. Without wasting a second, I dropped into a crouch and sprung forward at the Glabrezu's face, pulling out an engraved, black short sword. Dealing three lightning fast hits with it, that enraged the beast more than anything, I then shifted my momentum by driving the sword deep into foot of the thing, then brang my shuriken around, ebbing it in it's stomach. Shifting my grip, I sprung up, dragging my weapon up through it's thick, partially scaled hide, stepping on its swinging hand to boost myself up more. Quickly planting my feet on one of it's shoulders, I sent a wave of energy through my shuriken as I kicked off and flipped backwards, my charged and still ebbed weapon ripping the things head nearly in half.

I hissed as some of it's acidic blood splashed on me. I was quick but not fast enough. Tifa came from the side, her fist enveloped by flame, as she inflicted a devastating downward punch, incinerating the beast, before springing back, wary of any counterattack. Any other creature would be way overkill by now, but the reason these demons were such bastards, was that their regenerative powers are near unrivaled. Not wanting to waste any time, I ran around checking to make sure that all five enchanted blades where planted firmly, then materialized shadow wire. I linked it to my kunai and began to loop it around the beast, connecting the five blades in a pentagram, then simply chucking a bunch of kunai with the strong, light substance all around the thing. The more it was tied down it was the better for us.

The beast stirred with a mighty roar, attempting to get up. Several stings snapped, but most held, sapping the creature's strength. An insanely hot jet of fire hit the creature from the left, Aerith letting the flames dance from her plam. She halted the flow, quickly switching to a stream of ice. I crouched at the ready with the many strings attached to one kunai.

Then second she let up, I sprung, jumping off of it's head, and throwing the dagger to sink into it's back as I flipped away. Not sparing a second, Aerith let loose lightning that caught the strings and continued to flash around the beast effectively containing it, giving Tifa and I time to start putting up a barrier around the demon. I heard Aerith start chanting to my left, and began throwing more energy into the energy field. The circle of light and shadow spun around the beast, springing up to form a globe of glowing energy. Tifa and I moved in on opposite sides, each planting a hand in the barrier.

I turned to look at Aerith over my shoulder. Many different streams of light surrounded her, swirling up from the ground to add to her power. The Galbrezu flung itself against the barrier, sending a light shock up my arm. I gritted my teeth against the sting as it repeatedly tried to get out of it's cage, hurling fireballs and acid-breath-attack-thingies at the barrier, but Tifa and I had it held fast. It wasn't going to get out of there anytime soon.

Aerith continued her spell, gathering strength before she unleashed it at the thing, the stream of light passing right through the barrier. It swirled and crackled around the Glabrezu which roared in pain and anger. The light gathered at a center point in it's chest and began to pull the creature into it, as if there was a mini black hole right there, which there more or less was. More and more of the light came at the thing, effectively banishing it from the space it occupied, sending it back to the abyss. No matter how many times I saw Aerith do that it took my breath away. Tifa and I held the barrier until the very last possible moment, when the last of the giant Glabrezu was sucked up, and removed our hands and jumped back, expecting the huge shockwave as the portal to the Abyss closed in on itself. It ripped through the barrier, but most of the energy was used up there, so all us three girls felt was an insanely strong gust of wind that nearly knocked us flat on our buts.

After it had subsided, I heard a yell, and snapped my head around to see Aerith tripping over a rock and falling flat on her butt. Unable to contain myself I burst out laughing, Tifa following right behind me. Aerith pouted for a second before joining in. Relief flooded through us. No matter how many times us three took on demons as dangerous or more dangerous than that Glabrezu, we were risking our lives. More than that, really. There was always a chance that the portal to the Abyss would backlash more than usual and suck us into it as well, which would be extremely bad. That equaled eternal torment of your soul at the hands of a countless number of ridiculously sadistic demons.

Why would we choose to do this? Because we were born with very large auras. With training, we were able to harness it into energy that we used to fight, putting us on more or less an even playing field with the demons that hoped dimensions here. Tifa specialized in using her aura through her fists, and was able to call up things like fire to add a ridiculously huge extra oomph to a punch or kick, which made her hand to hand style that much more deadly. Aerith flowed her aura out of her hands or through her staff, specializing in more ranged attacks, like she'd used in the fight, but she could also charge her staff with auric power and whoop your butt with some epic skills that way. I had a little of both skills. I could fling a fireball or lightning bolt, or just slam a bunch of energy into my weapon or hand to add in a bunch of extra kick. Unlike the other two, I had fully mastered using my aura inside my body as well, giving myself a really big speed and strength boost. Teef could do that also, but not to the extent that I could. Since I was the only one out of us three that was an actual assassin for the clan of Black Sun, I had some extra training that was a lot more rigorous.

With all of these abilities, we could kick some serious demon ass, or at the very least we could contain them until a Shade, some other type of greater demon(The demons with souls, not like kind we had just fought-a lesser demon. Some greater demons were actually really decent people.) or an Ancient like Aerith banished them back to the Abyss.

When I finally got over my fit of laughter, I walked over and help Aerith up, still chuckling slightly. "Let's head back, okay? I gotta wash all of this gunk off of me." I motioned to my half dissolved clothing that was splattered with the dried demonic blood. Once it dryed it was harmless, but it was still gross looking slop and smelled really bad. Teef and I were covered in it.

"No kidding! You reek." Aerith nudged me as she picked up her staff, and dusted herself off. Tifa came over to us, walking around the decent sized crater where the Glabrezu had been.

I glanced up at the sky, noting the time by the position of the sun. "It's right around 3-ish. If we head back now, we should be back at HQ in fifteen minutes or so."

Tifa sank to the ground next to us. "Can we take a little breather first though? My ribs are killing me." I frowned and Aerith bent down to examine Tifa, making sure nothing was seriously damaged or broken. Earlier in the fight, the Glabrezu spun and it's hard armored tail blindsided Tifa, flinging the martial artist into a tree, breaking the tree in the process. It was a nasty hit, but thankfully she'd put up an auric shield to avoid most of the damage.

"You just have a bit of a crack in a rib. Just lemme take care of it really quick." Aerith's hand glowed a warm goldeny color and when she touched it to Tifa's ribs, she let out a breath of relief. Becasue Aerith was an ancient, she could pull a bunch of fun tricks like healing people. I could heal myself and Gray because of his powers, but when it came to others, I couldn't do jack squat unless I had really close auric bonds. Which only applied to my uncle. "Better?"

"Much!" Tifa rolled back and jumped up to her feet. "Lets get going. I hate having demon blood on me." We walked turned and walked away from the site of the battle, heading back into town.

**Gray's POV**

I heard the door ding open and called out, "Just a minute!" as I finished washing the puppy I had in my hands. I grabbed a towel and wrapped the little shivering creature in it, then stepped out of the back. The second I was past the doorway, I recognized the presence, my eyes widening in alarm. Shit! I backpeddled and pulled a hand mirror out of the shadows inspecting my appearance. With a sigh of relief I nodded. I let the mirror disolve as I let it go and walked out forward again, letting my eyes widen in 'surprise' as I rounded the corner and saw who was waiting for me.

"Vinnie! What're you doing here? I thought you said you had that meeting thing-a-ma-jig to go to." I gave Vincent a big smile.

"Hello Yuffie. Yes, I did, but it got out earlier than expected so I figured I should pop in and come see you." Vince looked away slightly, scratching the back of his neck with a hand. I took notice of the bag in his hand, while mentally thanking the goddess that he hadn't realized yet that I wasn't Yuffie.

As a Shade, I could shape-shift. Currently, I was wearing Yuffie's form, since just in case something like his happened, she wouldn't be oddly missing where no-one knew where she was. So, on normal days I would wear the form of gentle aunt Selena, and when Yuffie was gone on a mission, we'd discretely switch appearances -Yuffie was my shadow-kissed, so she could also shapeshift- and Selena would go out on some errands leaving 'Yuffie' to man the shop.

"Aww! That's so sweet! What's in the bag? Something for me?" I tipped my head to the side in typical Yuffie fashion.

"Yeah, I picked you up some sunflowers seed and a few Kit-Kats." I let my eyes widen and I took a step forward before looking down and remembering the puppy in my arms.

"Hold onto those for a moment Vinnie. Just set that over there. I gotta take care of this little fella first. He just got out of the bath." I gently rubbed the puppy, trying to dry him off as slowly as possible. Vince set the bag down on the counter, then approached me. Shit, shit, shit! He was probably going to greet me with a kiss or something! I can't kiss Vincent! I mean, I would love to, he was a one _hot_ turkey, but he was Yuffie's turkey! And Yuffie being like a sister to me, it would not be right for me to kiss her man, even if it was to keep up a cover.

I kept my face calm while I was inwardly panicking. Vincent loomed closer. i was loosing my composure and I barely noticed when a bit of shadow energy was released from my hands. That happens to us Shades when we're nervous. Thankfully the puppy started barking madly, as that's what happens when any animal comes in contact with my negative energy, they wig out. Vincent took a step back from where he was and I saw my opening. I frowned lightly and backpedled, stopping the flow of shadowy energy. The puppy was instantly soothed.

I shot Vincent and apologetic look, while I was cheering on the inside. "So sorry Vinnie, this little guy's really shy. Happens with everyone he just meets. Took him forever to get warmed up to me. Selena's trying to train him out of it, but it's slow going, and I can't put him down, he might get sick, cause he's still wet!" I did my best at a semi-panicked depressed Yuffie babble.

Vince chuckled. "It's alright."

"Just have a seat over there at the desk in the meanwhile, and talk to me." Vince, nodded walking to the desk and sitting down. And then I saw the thing that would blow my cover to Mars and back. Yuffie.

Oh f*ck, oh f*ck , oh f*ck!

Can't let Vincent see her! I walked closer, 'accidentally' bumping into a rack holding different dog toys, collars, and treats, and used my powers to make sure quite a bit of stuff fell out.

"Shit! Vinnie, can you help me with that?" Vince blinked, then laughed.

"So you're just as much of a clutz here at work, huh?" He came closer when I remember shy puppy, and let out a bit of my panic to dog who started to bark again. I backed up, giving Vince an apologetic look, letting out a breath when I saw Vinnie bend down to pick the stuff up, and Yuffie freeze with her hand on the doorknob, having seen Vincent. Her eyes were wide with alarm.

I gave a discrete flick of my head to the side signaling Yuffie. I mouthed the words, _go around back, shift to Selena, _at Yuffie. She nodded, and then ran to the side just getting out of view as Vincent turned to look outside.

"What're you looking at?" Vince's deep voice startled me, but thankfully I didn't let it show.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, just thought I saw a cat out there. It was nothing though."

I flashed him a smile, and just barely stopped myself from letting out a sigh of relief as the back door opened with a jingle of keys and a matronly voice sing-songed, "I'm back!"

"Hey Selena! Out front! How on a sec Vin-Vin, I'ma go give this fella to Selena, and be right back out." I gave him a smile before hurrying to the back, waiting until I was out of view and the door shut before I shifted my form from Yuffie to Selena. Yuffie, seeing me shift, let go of her own transformation. Her form was enveloped in shadows for a second before they cleared and Yuffie was standing there. I made sure to switch my clothes to different ones, and that Yuffie's clothing matched what I had been wearing. The two of us started chatting to keep up appearances.

I laughed as we entered the front of the store, Yuffie leaving me to glomp Vincent. I took the puppy that was dry enough now and set him in the cage with the rest of his litter. I smiled at the puppies for a second before turning to Yuffie, who was still kissing Vincent. .

"Yuffie, which puppies did you already wash?" I called across the store.

She broke her lip-lock and looked over at me, a blank expression on her face. "Uhh, what?"

I rolled my eyes, with a smile on my face. "Nevermind. I see you probably aren't going to get any more work done, so why don't you just take the rest of the day off?"

"Wow, you sure?" Her eyes were wide, a a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Yes, yes. It's the least I can do after you came in so early today. I called Tifa in to take care of Marlene, who's out cold now. I was planning on closing up anyways. Go ahead and take off early today." I gave them a warm smile. "Nice seeing you again Vincent, though we really din't talk much." I gave him a wink.

Yuffie giggled as she skiped over to me and gave me a hug goodbye. I covered my mouth, leaned close and whispered, "Don't forget to pick up the goodies Vince got you; behind the counter." I looked up at Vincent, and smirked. I pulled back and said loudly, "And don't forget to use protection!"

Yuffie lightly punched my arm, and I laughed at her expression and at Vincent's blush. I waved to them, letting out a sigh of relief. Disaster averted. Just barely, but isn't that how things always seem to turn out?

* * *

So, what do you think? I made it a bit longer as a treat to you guys. There's a good peak at Yuffie's assassin life, too. I hope I explained things pretty well, concerning Tifa, Aeriith, and Yuffie's powers. P.s. Shades can form objects out of shadows, which is what Gray did for the hand mirror and how Yuffie made the shadow wire she used to tie down the Glabrezu. I forgot to mention that, and I'm itchig to go back to me video game, so I don't have the patience ot fix that. Another note; the Galbrezu is not mine, neither really is the Abyss. You can thank Forgotten Realms or Dungeons & Dragons for supplying me with all of the lesser demons I'll use in the story. The greater demons (which you'll meet later) are my own creation though, as are shades.

Anywho, pretty please review and tell me what you think!


End file.
